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Health Benefits of Eating and Growing Purple Foods

If you’re interested in good health, or are growing an edible garden, have you heard about how purple foods can benefit you? In this article, I share 50+ purple fruits and vegetables you can eat and grow, as well as their special protective health benefits, so let’s dig a little deeper.

If you’re a food gardener, it’s likely you’re aware that eating a variety of fruits and vegetables is healthy. It’s also one of the easiest ways to prevent disease. That’s why I’m growing my own healing, nutrient-dense food garden.

I’ve intentionally planted a rainbow of foods including those with purple pigments like eggplant, sweet potatoes and mulberries. Why? Because edibles with diverse colours and in different plant families each provide us with unique nutrients. Every food crop (vegetables, fruits and herbs) have different nutrients, so expanding the variety of colourful foods you eat can help boost health. More on that in a moment.

“Let your food be your medicine, and your medicine be your food.” – Hippocrates, the father of Western medicine

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Anne Gibson2018-09-07T09:07:11+00:00Categories: Colour & Fragrance, Health and wellness, Plant Selection|Tags: Cooking tips, Eat a rainbow, Health and wellness, Phytonutrients, Plant selection, Purple Foods|0 Comments

Growing Food in a Challenging Climate

2017 was the worst and longest drought I have ever experienced. The growing conditions were the toughest I can ever remember. The rain just didn’t come for 7 long months. In fact, it was so bad in our local region, the Sunshine Coast of Australia, that thousands of people ran out of water for their homes and personal needs, let alone their gardens. Many had to get water and take showers in local parks. It was really, really dry.

As you’d expect, I had a few plant casualties. The grass was crispy. Sadly, an ornamental tree died and it wasn’t worth planting some of my favourite foods because the conditions were too unfavourable.

However, what delighted me was that through this entire time, my little kitchen garden kept feeding us. Not just now and then, but every day. Now you probably think I spent hours and hours every week out there planting and tending it. But nothing could be further from the truth. I’ve never had a busier year. Some weeks, I was lucky to spend an hour or two – and that was harvesting rather than planting or maintenance. Take a look at a few of the foods we enjoyed this year.

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Anne Gibson2018-05-15T07:21:47+00:00Categories: Blog, Grow Your Own Food|Tags: grow your own food, harvesting|2 Comments

5 Simple Secrets to Building Healthy Soil

Why does soil health matter? Because if you want pest and disease-free plants that are nutrient-dense to nourish your health, you need healthy soil!

“Healthy soil has an ongoing capacity to function as a vibrant living ecosystem that can sustain plants, animals and people.” – Anne Gibson

Do YOU have Healthy Soil?

There are many factors that indicate soil health including:

a stable pH (not too acid or alkaline);
good soil structure;
ability to hold and release nutrients to plants;
level of organic matter; and
biodiversity of soil life.

A soil test kit will help you discover what your soil pH is. Picking up a handful of soil will allow you to get a feel for its structure and how ‘alive’ it is with worms and other tiny soil creatures.

Healthy soil does not look like dead dry lifeless dirt!

If your soil looks and feels like lifeless dry dirt, you may have a lot of work to do!

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Anne Gibson2018-09-07T08:44:15+00:00Categories: Garden Maintenance, Planning & Design, Tips & Tricks|Tags: Chemicals, Cover crops, Mulch, Organic matter, Problem Solving, Safe gardening, Soil, watering|0 Comments

9 Reasons You Should Grow Cosmos Flowers

Cosmos flowers (Cosmos bipinnatus or Mexican aster) are showy annual flowers that offer you SO many benefits. If you’ve never grown these ornamental beauties, you may be surprised how useful these cheerful flowers can be.

Cosmos Flowers

Cosmos is a member of the Compositae or Asteraceae family, just like their ‘cousins’: sunflowers, marigolds, yarrow, daisies, zinnias, lettuce and dandelions.

These easy care flowers are perfect for a full sun position in your garden or a pot, growing through spring to autumn.

Not surprisingly, the name Cosmos comes from the Greek word ‘kosmos’ which means ‘beautiful’. Aww! These flowers come in many colours and grow tall with attractive feathery leaves. I encourage you to find a pot or tiny space to sow a few seeds.

“Texture and foliage keep a garden interesting through the season. Flowers are just moments of gratification.” – Kevin Doyle

So why grow these beautiful blooms?

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Anne Gibson2018-09-07T08:34:24+00:00Categories: Colour & Fragrance|Tags: Beautiful gardens, Bees & Pollination, Companion plants, Cosmos, Flowers, seeds & seed saving|5 Comments

Best Tips for Growing Root Crops

Do you love digging for hidden treasures in your soil, but sometimes feel disappointed in your harvest? If so, these tips should help make growing root crops much easier and more successful.

Discovering an edible surprise is a bit like unwrapping a present, isn’t it? You get that feeling of anticipation as you unearth a handful of potatoes or pull up a bunch of crunchy carrots. Then you start dreaming up how you’re going to enjoy eating those tasty homegrown crops.

So let’s dig into some juicy tips on ways to get more of these delicious vegies and spices on your plate. (more…)

Anne Gibson2018-05-15T07:29:13+00:00Categories: Grow Your Own Food, Tips & Tricks, Vegetables & Herbs|Tags: Moon calendar, Moon gardening, Moon planting, Root crops, Root vegetables, Safe food gardening, Tips and tricks|0 Comments

Is PVC Plastic Safe to Use in an Organic Garden?

Are you growing food? Are you concerned about your health, avoiding chemicals and eating safe produce? Me too! Over the years, I’ve been asked many times whether PVC plastic (Polyvinyl Chloride) is safe and has a place in a food garden. You may have wondered too.

We live in a world filled with plastics and some are more harmful to our health and environment than others.

There are all sorts of uses gardeners find for PVC tubes including irrigation pipes, in wicking beds, worm farms, compost systems, rain gutter gardens and vertical tower planters. It’s understandable. PVC is cheap, widely available and an easy solution. It’s commonly used in landscaping, aquaponics, hydroponics, garden gloves and hoses too.

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Anne Gibson2018-05-15T07:46:43+00:00Categories: Garden Maintenance, Planning & Design, Problem Solving|Tags: Chemicals, Plastic, PVC, Safe gardening|0 Comments

5 Reasons to Grow Sunflowers

Why grow sunflowers? There are many benefits to growing these beautiful blooms including their cut flowers and free edible seeds. They also attract pest-patrolling birds and bees to improve your harvest, and even help detox contaminated soil. These flowers are not just pretty faces!

The botanical name for sunflowers is ‘Helianthus’ – ‘Helia’ meaning sun and ‘Anthus’ for flower. Sunflowers are called ‘tournesol’ in French (meaning ‘turns with the sun’). Curious to learn how to use these cheerful flowers to advantage in your garden? Read on…

5 Reasons to Grow Sunflowers

1. Feed your Pollinators

The showy large outer petals help attract many species of bees to your sunflowers including honey bees and bumble bees. The centre of the sunflower houses hundreds and thousands of tiny individual florets that contain nectar and pollen, a food source for bees.

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Anne Gibson2019-02-02T11:55:20+00:00Categories: Colour & Fragrance, How to Grow|Tags: Bees & Pollination, Contaminated Soil, Flowers, pollinators, Safe seeds, seeds & seed saving, Sunflowers|0 Comments

How to Use Compost and 7 Benefits of Composting

Do you have problems with your plant and soil health? If so, compost may be one of your greatest ‘assets’ to help you resolve these issues.

In this article, discover:

What compost and composting are;
7 benefits of using compost;
Why composting is vital for every garden; and
4 easy ways you can use compost to grow healthier plants and more nutrient-dense food.

What IS Compost?

Compost is simply decomposed or decayed organic matter, created during the process of composting.

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Anne Gibson2018-04-19T05:25:14+00:00Categories: Garden Maintenance, Planning & Design, Mini Compost Systems|Tags: Compost, Fertilisers, Mulch, Problem Solving, Soil|3 Comments

7 Sustainable Garden Design Tips

Want a productive, edible and sustainable garden? One that nourishes you with healing delicious foods? Growing your own organic food garden is one easy way to live more sustainably and tread lighter on the planet.

When you ‘shop’ for fresh ingredients from your garden, you save time and energy. Home gardeners don’t need to use huge amounts of precious water, toxic petrochemical fertilisers, expensive fuel, transport, tonnes of material and lots of land. Designed cleverly, a small sustainable garden avoids wasting resources and minimises the impact on the environment.

I believe being ‘sustainable’ is a lifestyle that helps sustain you physically and provides you with short and long-term benefits. Being a sustainable gardener is about making conscious choices about the actions you take and the resources you use. Giving back to the earth and not just taking from it.

Recycling food waste back into the garden is a sustainable practice

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Anne Gibson2018-09-07T09:18:14+00:00Categories: Clever Design Ideas, Garden Maintenance, Planning & Design|Tags: clever, Clever design ideas; Tips & Tricks, seeds & seed saving, Soil, Sustainable gardening, tips & tricks, watering|4 Comments

Choosing Fruit Trees for Small Gardens

Thinking about growing your own fruit trees? No matter how little space you have, there’s almost always room for at least one fruit tree.

The taste and satisfaction of picking homegrown fruit is one of life’s pleasures!

5 Tips for Fruit Trees in Small Gardens

I grow a LOT of fruit trees in a small space. Some in containers, others in the garden. It’s highly productive and I grow kilos of fruit every year. Some fruit trees are young and on their way to producing. Others are putting food on the table regularly!

Here, I grow a lot of tropical fruit trees like bananas, papaya, mango, mulberries, citrus and peaches. It takes time to get to know each fruit and how much space they require to be productive.

It can be overwhelming if you’re just starting out growing fruit trees, so I hope these tips help you avoid expensive mistakes.

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Anne Gibson2018-09-07T09:19:37+00:00Categories: Fruit Trees, Garden Maintenance, Planning & Design, Grow Your Own Food|Tags: Container gardening, Fruit trees, grow your own food, small garden design, Small kitchen garden|0 Comments

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